The present invention relates to a body structure of a vehicle, and particularly relates to a side body structure of a vehicle in a connecting part between a hinge pillar and a side sill, and a part therearound.
Generally, when a vehicle experiences a frontal collision, a pair of left and right front-side frames provided in a front part of the vehicle and extending in vehicle longitudinal directions, crashes and absorbs the impact load, and via the front-side frames, distributes the impact load to various vehicle parts in order to reduce cabin deformation.
When a so-called small overlap collision where the vehicle overlaps with a collision object at an outer side of the front side frame in vehicle width directions occurs, a front wheel in the overlapped area may move rearwardly (retreat) with respect to the vehicle body and the impact load may be applied to a hinge pillar from the front wheel.
The applied impact load is distributed rearwardly via structures, such as a side sill extending rearwardly from a lower end of the hinge pillar, a front pillar extending upwardly and rearwardly from an upper end of the hinge pillar, and an impact bar of a front door. The distribution of the load from the hinge pillar to various parts on the rear side reduces the cabin deformation caused by the retreating of the hinge pillar and a dashboard.
Generally, the hinge pillar includes a pair of inner and outer hinge pillar members joined together by welding a pair of front and rear flanges thereof. A closed section space is continuously formed extending vertically between the inner and outer hinge pillar members, and thus, a suitable load transmission occurs between the lower end and the upper end of the hinge pillar.
Further, the side sill includes a pair of inner and outer side sill members joined together by welding a pair of upper and lower flanges thereof. A closed section space is continuously formed extending in the vehicle longitudinal directions between the inner and outer side sill members, and thus, the load is suitably transmitted rearward by the side sill.
A front end part of the outer side sill member projecting forwardly of a rear edge of the hinge pillar may be disposed inside a connecting part between the hinge pillar and the side sill. In this case, the projecting part of the outer side sill member cannot form a closed section space because the welding of the upper flange of the outer side sill member becomes difficult, and the closed section space may only be formed on the rear side of the hinge pillar.
When such a vehicle with the side body structure experiences the small overlap collision, the outer side sill member applied with the impact load from the front side easily bends in the front end part with no closed section space, and thus, the effective rearward load distribution cannot be achieved via the side sill.
Regarding this inconvenience, JP2013-159290A discloses a structure in which an inner reinforcing member extending in vehicle longitudinal directions is disposed inside a connecting part between a lower end part of a hinge pillar and a front end part of a side sill, and a second closed section space smaller than a closed section space of the side sill itself is continuously formed extending in the vehicle longitudinal directions between the inner reinforcing member and an inner wall of the connecting part.
The formation of the second closed section space on the front side of a rear edge of the hinge pillar allows an impact load applied to the hinge pillar from the front side to be transmitted to the closed section space of the side sill formed on the rear side of the hinge pillar, via the second closed section space.
There still is room for improvement in the vehicle body structure in which the closed section space of the side sill is formed on the rear side of the hinge pillar, in order to rearwardly distribute the load more stably.